Hand In Glove

Chapter 38

The next few days were tense and uncomfortable around the house. Chloe did her thing and Ashton did his. He spent most of his time upstairs in his room or downstairs on the treadmill. They said very little to each other. Chloe went about her tasks in an almost robotic manner. After dinner she avoided him altogether, preferring to be in her art studio, painting. All the silence slowly ate away at her.

Thursday evening after dinner, Nick came around. Ashton answered the door. "Nick, did we have plans tonight?" Ashton asked, clearly not in the mood to entertain his company.

"Nope, just in the neighborhood." Nick shrugged, letting himself in and looking around the living room.

"I see, well, I'm a little busy so maybe another time," Ashton said, still holding the door.

"Whatever, I'm not here to see you anyway." Nick walked away from him. "Hey, Chloe Belle, there you are," he said, finding her in the back room.

Ashton shut the door and sat sulking in his chair.

"Nick..." She greeted him with a smile. "I'm so glad you're here."

Ashton heard the unmistakable joy in Chloe's voice. If only it was his name she called and not Nick's. He missed her voice. She'd been so quiet lately. He closed his eyes tight and tried to drown out the sounds from the other room.

"Nick, thanks for coming," she said, putting down her brush. "It's so nice to have someone to talk to."

"Anytime, Chloe Belle, I'm glad you called," he said, giving her a hug and taking a peek at her painting. "That's really good. Is that somewhere you've been?" he asked about the painting. It was an image of a street scene lined with cafés beside a river.

"No, it's from this picture my brother sent me from Paris," she said, showing him the photograph.

"Cool, I like it," he said, turning his attention to her. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing really, I just didn't know who else to talk to. Ashton hasn't said much lately. I think I really got to him. I said some nasty things. I might've crossed the line." She visibly winced.

"Stop right there," he said, taking her hand. "Let's get out of here,"

"Where to?" she asked, following him, stopping only to grab her jacket.

"Let's go for a drive. I need some air," he said, narrowing his eyes at Ashton on their way out. "Later, Ash, I'll have her back sometime, maybe."

"Whatever, man," Ashton said from his chair.

Chloe followed Nick, feeling suddenly torn. "Was that really necessary?" she asked Nick as she got into his car.

"Come on, he can handle it. Anyway, he needs a wake-up call. I'm done caring what he thinks when it comes to you, Chloe," he said, pulling out of the driveway.

They drove for a while. Chloe sat feeling strangely at ease in Nick's car. He was always so easy to be around. He pulled up in front of the lake and rolled down the windows. It was a pleasantly cool night and the full moon was rising above the water.

"So talk, Chloe. I'm listening," he said, taking her hand.

"Well, like I said before, I think I may have messed up," she explained.

"Wait a minute, isn't he the one who screwed up?" Nick asked, giving his head a shake.

"Maybe, I don't know but I said some things."

"Like what?"

"Well, I may have brought up that whole thing with that girl back in the day, you know the one?" He nodded. "I kind of rubbed his nose in it."